JUBILATION FOUNDRY

The second Sage album is a bit of a sampler of sounds, but in all I find it to be a fairly ear- pleasing collection. Paul Brett would go on to amass a fairly large discography of pretty serious guitar music, but at this point in his career he seemed to still be trying to find his niche.

Flautist Nicky Higginbottom had departed by the time the group entered the studio to record these songs, but her sounds are replaced by both Titus Groan guitarist Stuart Cowell as well as some rather lush orchestral arrangements. The effect of both are noticeable and welcome, although the foolish lilt Higginbottom added to the band’s debut album is somewhat missed.

Like I said, these songs contain a mix of sounds, many of them leaning in the direction of pop. The opening “Cottage Made for Two” for example (penned by bassist Dick Dufall) is an obvious nod to the Everly Brothers, and the follow-up “Hold My Hand Mother” as well as “Good Old-Fashioned Funky Kind Of Music” are both sort of Sam & Dave type things. “Goodbye Forever” is a little bit Beatles-sounding, and “I Fell So Far” isn’t too far away from the early Cat Stevens sound (while the guitar could also be construed as a John Denver- picked piece).

But despite the heavy pop and R&B influences this is in the end a fairly progressive folk album. Brett’s guitar picking alone are worth picking the album up for. Though he was only in his early twenties when these songs were recorded, his confidence and adept fingers project the sound of a much more mature musician. The orchestral arrangements, something not that unusual with pop, folk and rock music of the early seventies, are well- placed and understated on the tracks where they appear (“Written in Winter” for example, which also features gorgeous electric guitar from Brett, bongos and other acoustic percussion). That one has a little bit of the Beatles in it as well.

The two most memorable tracks are “Tuesday Evening”, a lazy summer tune that includes more orchestral backing and tight two-part vocal harmonies; and “Help Me Jesus”, one of four John Hutcheson-penned songs that tells tale of a good kid gone bad who realizes he’s in over his head, a scenario played out not only during the early seventies but pretty much throughout recorded history. That one also reminds me of a lot of Jesus-freak music of the late sixties/early seventies (U.S. Apple Corps, Caedmon, Earthen Vessel, bands like that).

The title track gets a little funky with some wailing electric guitar, lyrics about the hand of the Devil, and dire warnings as to the fate of ne’er do wells. The contrast between this song and the prior “Help Me Jesus” remind me of the transition from “All the World” to “Child of Innocence” on Kansas’ Masque album which would release a few years later.

I’d lean just slightly toward the band’s debut album if forced to pick a favorite of the three they recorded, but just barely. This is a tightly written, well-executed and professionally produced bit of studio work, and once again I’ll express surprise that Paul Brett’s Sage didn’t make more of a go of things considered how well they melded together as a band. I’m only going to give this one three stars, but this is as close to a four-star record as I think a band could get without quite achieving that status. I may even revisit that rating in the future, as I’m already having second thoughts. Well recommended.

peace